Approximately 12 billion dollars is spent on pavements annually in Canada as indicated by Public Works Canada. This massive investment is ageing and requires timely and cost effective renovation, repair and rehabilitation technologies and good management. With increased demand for innovative solutions to repair the existing infrastructure, there has been a growth in the use of concrete pavements and the innovative concrete pavement products. The objective of this paper is to provide a state-of-the-art review on the design, construction, performance and maintenance of various concrete pavement structures in Canada. Case studies of concrete pavement roadway projects will be presented for various types of concrete pavement products, including: conventional jointed plain concrete pavements(JPCP); thin composite pavement; ultra-thin white topping (UTW), roller compacted concrete (RCC) pavement and recycling of asphaltic roadways using a new cement-slurry stabilisation technique. The case studies will provide details on the pavement design, usage (i.e. residential, collector, arterial, expressways, and freeways) and performance (where available) from various parts of Canada to demonstrate the benefits of these various technologies. For example, findings from a 5-year study undertaken by the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation & Public Works (NSTPW) comparing the performance of adjoining concrete and asphalt pavements constructed in 1994 will be presented. The results of a study on the long-term performance of various RCC roadway projects will also be presented. In addition, findings from a recent study by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) study on the effect of pavement surface type on fuel consumption will be presented. The aim of this paper is to provide guidance on concrete paving techniques for use in the Canadian environment under various traffic loading conditions. (Author/publisher)
Abstract